Wichita eagle., 1887-10-22
DECEPTIVE LOGIC.

The fact of mans prominence, whetht
as an official or on account Of great wealth
of what not, gives whatever he may So
more or less weight with those who ma
hear or read 1t. Rut 1t does not necessaril
follow that because mans opinion ma
be worth considering In general way o
on most subjects, particularly upon matter
with which he is familiar, that he is IN
fellible on al subjects. Take for exampl
the case Of Mr.. Chauncy n. DePew WHIT
recently made partial tour Of the north
west, and who on his return east stopped ,
short time In st. Louis. In an interview
while there he is reported to have said:
The heavy Investments III new railroad
mileage and the real estate craze IN thf
west must inevitably bring about a panic
| The real estate craze will bring greater
disaster because 80 many more are directly
interested. l found at nearly every one OF
the trade centers we visited the most ex-
travagant and untenable views of prospec-
tive real estate values Why found 1t q
| very common thing to hear men ask, and
zee apparently sensible men, pay 800 and
more for town lots situated IN corn field
or on hill top one and two miles from the
business center of the town and which will
In all human probability be suburban prop
erty for the next twenty years, fit only for
agriculture or grazing purposes. These
lots are probably intrinsically worth from
$25 to $50 per acre. Now the danger
from this craze lies In this: The investors
In these real estate ventures pay, as a
rule, from % to 30 per cent. OF the pur,
chase price In cash and secure the deferred
payments by mortgage, and when the
crash comes-and 1t is coming like cy-
clone-the cash payments will be swept
by the depreciations in values, leaving the
holder of the mortgage the property as his
only security, which will prove TO lack
about ninety per cent of being enough to
liquidate hts claim, and the worst Of II Is,
everybody is dabbling In real estate g.
these fabulous prices, and Of course, when
the card house begins to tumble nearly
everybody will be involved.
What Mr.. Depew says Of the trade cen
tiers" he visited may be true, In part, but 1t
will not bear universal application to the
cities and towns In the west. AT no place
In the west except perhaps Kansas City did
real estate transactions (call it craze If you
choose reach the magnitude, as to numbers
aid amount Of capital involved, during the
past year as In Wichita, but not only has
there been total absence of anything like
a panic here, but values have been and are
still steadily maintained. Not only.so butthe
voluno of business Ia this line Is very much |
larger now than it was year ego, as Is |
shown by the transfers that are published |
daily.
Had Mr.. Depew visited Wichita and |
made the necessary inquiries to obtain the
facts pertaining to her present status and
what must accrue to her In the near
future, he must In candor have made
It an exception to his general premise
and conclusion. He would have
found here that as regards cur real estate
and railroad interests, they have not ex
,eeded the other important interests that
sustain them; that as the chief distributing
point for the great southwest the demands
or transportation facilities are yet In ex-
,ess Of what we now have, extensive SIS
hey are, and as to the realty interest he
would have learned that the numerous ad
litions to the city were made necessary by
he constant and increasing demand for
homes for the thousands of citizens COM
ng to Wichita, and to accommodate the
cores of industrial enterprises that contin-
lie to crowd into the city
We will not dispute with the distinguish !
d gentleman concerning the points he
listed and to which he had reference in
is remarks, for he may be correct in his
exclusions as applied to them, but mas
much as he designated no place by name
nd inferentially they might be applied to
no doubt will be by some I
whose only wish Is that the worst may be
all this city-since Wichita is one of the +
hief trade centers of the west, we are con
tertained to give this expose to his decep- !
I've logic and false conclusions as regards $
his place. 4